The background of the invention will be discussed in two parts.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to a novel piston type internal combustion engine having a fixed position stub shaft mounted on a base and wherein the piston assembly does not reciprocate.
2. Related Art
For more than 100 years the piston type internal combustion engine has mainly consisted of a stationary block, cylinders, crankshaft, cam shaft, exhaust and intake valves. The efficiency has been very low due to kinetic friction loss and reciprocal movement of valves, rocker arms, pistons, piston pins and rods. Most improvements in the design of the piston type internal combustion engine have done little to improve the dynamics of these engines. The present invention improves the efficiency of the internal combustion engine by eliminating all reciprocal moving parts and reducing the number of parts. The cylinder block assembly rotates with a significant mass acting as a flywheel, further saving energy by allowing a slow idle RPM when power is not required. The rotating block and rotating air intake shroud with vanes increasing air velocity into the combustion chamber add to energy savings. Further energy savings are achieved through the large area exhaust outlets, reducing the work required to pump exhaust gas out. An example of an internal combustion engine having a rotatable cylinder block is shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,220,208 issued to van de Verve on 24 Apr. 2001. Van de Verve discloses an internal combustion diesel engine including cylinder block having at least one cylinder in which a piston with a connecting rod connected thereto are movably provided, the at least one cylinder arranged in a cylinder block which is rotatable about its axis. The end of the connecting rod remote from the piston is attached to a stationary shaft whose center is line does not coincide with the center line of the axis of the rotatable cylinder block.
Considering the shortcomings and deficiencies in the prior art, there exists a need for improvements of the design of piston type internal combustion engines to increase efficiency by improving the dynamics of these engines whereby there is decreased kinetic friction loss and reciprocal movement of valves, rocker arms, pistons, piston pins and piston rods.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved piston type internal combustion engine having a fixed position stub shaft mounted on a base and wherein the piston, piston pin and piston rod rotate about this fixed position shaft. It is another object of the invention to provide a piston assembly that does not reciprocate. Other objects, aspects, features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from a reading of the specification taken in conjunction with the drawings.